Changeable conditions at Zandvoort provided an exciting qualifying session behind Max Verstappen‘s inevitable pole position, but weather could intervene on raceday to deny the Dutchman a historic win.
Verstappen could have no better stage to chase a ninth successive victory in Formula 1 to equal Sebastian Vettel‘s record, as the championship leader also aims to maintain his 100% record on home tarmac.
Behind him are five drivers from five different teams battling for the podium positions, with Lando Norris, George Russell, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz all in with a chance of silverware.
Each driver will fancy his chances in the wet too, while Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg line up out of position but could change that very quickly if the rain does start to fall.
Zandvoort weather
There’s a real range of forecasts for Zandvoort, so really the only meteorological certainty for the Dutch GP is that nothing’s certain.
Some forecasts suggest up to a 75% chance of rain at the 15:00 race start time and qualifying has already shown the chaos a downpour can bring at Zandvoort with its tight walls and unforgiving grass and gravel runoff areas.
However, other forecasts only give a one-in-four chance of rain, so it really is a lottery for strategists to account for. If a downpour does arrive it’ll likely only be a light shower though, so knowing if it’s worth switching to the intermediate tyres will be key, as will nailing the earliest moment it’s possible to switch back.
One thing that drivers will have to contend with is high winds blowing in off the North Sea and across the circuit.
That’s already caught a number of drivers out over the weekend, particularly at turn 13, but Sunday is set to be Zandvoort at its blusteriest with winds of up to 20 miles per hour surging across the dunes.
And temperatures are set to barely rise above 15 degrees Celsius, meaning the already low tyre degradation at Zandvoort will decrease still further.
